The Old Foil Bag Approach.

this is a genuine Mother Ana method of cooking y'all. I've seen a lot of people use it and i don't blame them, it's simple the easiest way of cooking fish and meat in the easiest way. Basically you bake your chosen food in a foil bag with olive oil and seasoning. it stays tender and juicy and the flavour stays in the bag as theres no evaporation. it's my favourite way to cook salmon.

i used a tattie peeler to get thin slices of courgette, and lay them on the bottom of the foil. topped with a salmon steak, brocolli, mange tout, black olives, olive oil, seasoning, garlic and a touch of water. seal the foil up with a little room for steaming and pop in a 180 degree oven for 20 minutes

i ate a little before i realised i should document what it looks like cooked

please do try this method of cooking, it works well with all fish and chicken. obviously cook it a little bit more :)

Holy Crepe!: A Video

so, I know it's been and gone, and it's a little late for a p-cake video, but it's less of a tutorial and more me pissing about whilst "expertly" flipping batter circles, singing and dancing, and doing Julia Childs/Meryl Streep impressions.

warning, there are copious amount of Sabrina references in here. you'll see what I mean.

and a big up to Dean, who filmed and edited this, when he really didn't have to. LOVEFORYOU.

pancakes are the easiest thing to make ever.

flour; eggs; milk. - a sprinkle of sugar for sweet, a sprinkle of salt for savoury. if you're making both from the same batch, then don't add either.

whisk 'til smooth.

more flour = thicker batter = thicker, probs smaller pancakes (american style)

less flour = thinner batter = flatter, bigger pancakes ("normal" ones)

course, a smaller frying pan will mean your small, thick pancakes are actually round and not questionably shaped, yknow?

I put maple syrup on, innit.

PS,

Holy Crepe! came from the pancake stand at uni on Tuesday...

PPS,

this is, of course, the same mixture as yorkshire puddings, which should be a thick batter (more flour!), mebs with a salt sprinkle, then in t'oven, in a greased cupcake tin, for about half an hour. THERE ARE NO EXCUSES.

Curries! Galore

i know jenn has already posted a curry recipie (am i spelling that right?) (no, you are not, it is recipe. loveforyou - jenn) but here are 4 of my favourites...

Tikka Chicken (per person)
1 chicken breast
3 tablespoons natural yoghurt
2 tsps Tikka seasoning (this is available from most supermarkets, its bright red)
4 cherry tomatoes
fresh coriander
1 tsps garam masala
salt and pepper
squeeze of lemon

combine all the ingredients on a bowl, mix well and leave in the fridge for no less than 6 hours. mix everything but the chicken first and taste and add more spice the spicier you like it.
heat some oil in a frying pan, and pick out the chicken pieces and fry until they turn a darker colour. bung in the rest of the sauce and stir. add a little more yoghurt if it looks dry. preheat the oven to 180. put the chicken and sauce in a overproof dish and put in the oven for half an hour. when serving, blop on about a table spoon of yoghurt.

Vegetable Curry
for the basic curry sauce:
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsps Garam masala
1 tsps chilli powder
squeeze of lemon
seasoning
half an onion
half a can of chopped tomatoes

fry the garlic gently in oil, make sure you dont burn it. add chopped onion, and fry to soften them. add the garam masala and chilli powder, stir into the garlic and onions. add a little bit of water if it looks dry. add the lemon juice and seasoning, stir then add the tomatoes. at this point you can add any precooked veg you like. butternut squash is particularly good, and even spinach. when you've added the veg, pop the curry in the oven at 180 degrees for half an hour

Bombay Potatoes
follow the basic vegetable curry recipie, except cut out the chilli powder and tomatoes. add par boiled halved new potatoes. if the curry is too dry, use water to make the sauce less thick. still bake in the oven at the same temperature and time

Spiced Rice
enough brown or white rice for one person (half a cup)
1 tsps tumeric
1 tsps garam masala
2 tbs chopped onion (pre fried)
2 tbs peas

prepare the rice as usual. when cooked, add the spices, onion and peas. continue to heat through until all the ingredients are hot.

The Best Pasta Bake Ever.

Some notes:

- This makes enough for tea and lunch the next day! Did for me, anyways.

- I'm really into double cream right now

- You're gonna need a shitload of mushrooms

Luckily, my housemate had a bag to get rid of, so before they went out of date, I thought I'd scoff 'em down.

I mean, really, look at them...

That is a lot of mushrooms, non?

This is the first time I used cream to make the sauce, and I only used it to use it up, but it took it up a level and I'm probs gonna put it in every pasta bake I ever make now - yes, the sauce is rich, but it's also delicious, creamy, and full of flavour.

ingredients

one shitload of mushrooms (what? it's a standard measurement unit! orite, orite, a couple of handfuls)

two handfuls pasta (as usual, I use wholegrain...)

one garlic clove

one small onion (or half a large one)

one slice bacon*

one handful baby spinach

a splash of milk

about 50ml double (or single) cream

one small handful of grated cheese

sprinklings of

salt

pepper

basil

-----------

cook the pasta as per the instructions. you might wanna turn on the oven (to a medium heat) already; it'll be nice and warm by the time you need it.

chop the onion into slices and the garlic finely, and chop the bacon and mushrooms into bitesize chunks - fry them all off in that order, until they all look about done.

when the pasta is done, drain it then put it back into the pan, wherein you should quickly add the milk and cream, and the sprinklings and stir 'em. throw in the frying pan of food, and the handful of spinach, and keep on stirring til everything is covered in sauce.

if the sauce is too thick, add some more milk; if it's too thin, add some plain flour and whisk it into the mix so you don't get lumps.

pour the mix into a casserole dish (anything that will withstand the oven, yeah?) and whack it into the oven for about 15 mins. it should be crispy up top.

after this time, sprinkle the cheese on the top (this is, of course, optional) and cook for another 5-10 mins. as long as the cheese is melted but not burnt, it's all good.

serve!

*course, leave out the bacon (again, using it up) for a veggie meal; i have tagged it as such!

The Cake Debate.

Me and my housemate Luke (that's him taking macro pics above; with his latest creations) have a bit of a rivalry with cakes. I don't make them much, he probs whips up a batch or a big cake once every couple of weeks, but we have different styles.

My cakes are (as I was always taught) sifted dry ingredients first with gradually added wet ingredients and whisked till light and fluffy. It's a testament to this method that my cakes are always awesome; but I always use a simple flavour - lemon sponge, chocolate sponge, butterfly cakes... Preference, because, I'm not a fan of fruit in my cakes (if I wanted fruit, I'd eat fruit, goddammit) and if I have a sponge craving, let's face it, any flavour will do. No need to get fancy.

Luke makes his the wrong way round - wet ingredients first - and doesn't sieve up his flour, but he's much more adventurous with his flavours - raspberry and white chocolate is his favourite; and right now there is also a very zesty lemon cake in our fridge, as well as the above cupcakes (which are banana with white chocolate topping, btw). As a result, his cakes are often hit and miss (SIEVING IS THE KEY; but does he listen?) whether on flavour or moistness, which is key.

I think I'm in a bit of a minority; the other people in the house (OK, mostly Dean, maybe Aaron. Gemma doesn't do cake) tend to either love or hate Luke's dessert endeavours while mine enjoy a middle ground - better than his disasters but not as good as his triumphs. Personally I think your own brand can't be beat, and the last lemon cake I made was the moistest I've ever tasted. The main difference between us is he is willing to spend stupid amounts of fresh fruit and flavours for it, while I just chuck in whatever is round the shop/I have in the house.

The testament is, Luke sometimes has to throw mouldy cake out.

Has this happened to me, ever?

NO.

Suck it, McNaney.

Course, it's best to throw the cakes out when this occurs...